Salt Lake Community College rallied through the JUCO World Series bracket as the No. 8 seed and claimed the program’s first national championship with a 9-6 win over No. 1 Walters State (Tennessee) on Saturday at Suplizio Field in Grand Junction, Colorado.

SLCC shortstop Jake Olsen (Lehi, Utah) hit 2 for 4 with three RBIs. He singled in one during a three-run second inning and hit a solo homer in the fourth to put the Bruins up 4-2.

Walters State took its only lead at 5-4 in the fifth, drawing a bases-loaded walk and hitting a two-run single.

SLCC first baseman Jalen Seward (Albuquerque, New Mexico) restored his team to the lead with a two-RBI double in the seventh for a 7-5 lead. Carson Cabbage answered in the bottom half with a solo homer but that was all the Senators would manage. Olsen moved a run across in the eighth on an error and later scored on a single for the final score.

Austin Taylor (West Jordan, Utah) got the win for SLCC, allowing one run (the solo homer in the seventh) on two hits, striking out three and walking zero in three innings (sixth, seventh and eighth). Bruins pitchers allowed 10 hits but combined for 12 strikeouts to two walks.

After a 16-2 first-round win over No. 3 Florida Southwestern, the Bruins (48-11) took a loss to No. 9 Lake Land Community College (Illinois) to fall to the one-loss bracket.

With no room for error, SLCC won a 15-13 shootout with No. 5 Shelton State (Alabama) and another in a 17-16 victory over No. 6 Florence-Darlington (South Carolina) to get a rematch with Lake Land, which the Bruins won 12-2 via run rule.

That set up the title match with No. 1 Walters State (59-8) on Saturday night.

— Brett Hein, Standard-Examiner

Utah Valley gets first NCAA Tournament win

The magical postseason run for the Utah Valley baseball team continues.

Last week the Wolverines, as the No. 3 seed, won the WAC Tournament and Friday, UVU shocked No. 12 Oregon 6-5 in front of a partisan Ducks crowd at PK Park in the NCAA Eugene Regional.

UVU (33-27) earned its first win over a ranked team since Apr. 30, 2022, against then-No. 25 Grand Canyon. The Wolverines picked up their first NCAA Tournament victory behind a 2-for-4 night from Jimmy De Anda, who knocked in three runs, and clutch pitching from Corbin Kirk, Carsten Herman and Cooper Littledike.

Is it the biggest win in Utah Valley baseball history?

“It’s hard to rank them at this point,” Wolverines coach Nate Rasmussen said during his post-game interview on ESPN The Fan. “We’ve played in a lot of cool games. Obviously, this feels like No. 1 right now. It’s our first postseason win. I’m just proud of the guys. The environment was crazy and hostile and awesome and we got the ‘W’.

“This is what makes it fun. This is why you play the game is to win enough baseball games so you can get to the postseason and play in an environment like this.”

The Wolverines also earned their first win over a ranked opponent on the road since 2019, when they defeated No. 21 Mississippi State 2-1 in 11 innings in Starkville.

Oregon went on Saturday to a stunning sweep out of its own regional in a 10-8 loss to Cal Poly. Utah Valley took a 14-4 loss Saturday to Arizona, the Big 12 Tournament champions. UVU faces Cal Poly in a Sunday evening elimination game, with the winner taking on Arizona again late Sunday night in the regional final (with an if-necessary game scheduled for Monday).

— Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald